Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-09-10

On ire rushed totcdrd the pillar cf fire.
Keep the boat to the right, Quatermain-
to the right" shouted Sir Henry, and a min
ute afterwari saw him fall forward sense
less. Alphonse had already gone. Good was
the next to 60. There they lay as though
dead; only UmslopoGaas and / kept our
senses. We were within fifty yards of it
now, and saw the Zuu's head fall forward
on his hands He had gone, too, and | was
alone l could not breathe; the fierce heat
dried me up. For yards and yards round the
great rose Of fire the rock roof was red hot
The wood of the boat was almost burning
saw the feathers on one of the dead swans be-
gin TO twist and lrivel up: but | would not
give in knew tLat if did We should pass
within three or four yards of the gas jet and
perish miserably. l set the paddle 50 as to
turn the canoe as far from it as possible and
held on grimly.
Ny eyes seemed to be bursting from my
head, and through the closed lids could see
the fierce light. We We're nearly opposite
now; it roared like all the fires of hell, and
the water boiled furiously around it. Five
seconds more. We were past; heard the
roar behind me
Then !, too, fell senseless. The next thing
that remember was feeling breath Of ar
upon my face. Ny eyes opened wi h great
difficulty. 1 looked up. Far, far above me
there was light, though around me was de, p
gloom. Then l remembered, and looked
The canoe still floatei down the river, and in
the bottom of it lay the naked forms Of my
companions. "Were they ueadF' wondered.
WAS l left alone IN this awful placer
knew not Next ! became conscious Of q
burning thirst. put nv hand over the edge
of the boat into the water and drew it up
again with cry. No wonder; nearly all the
skin was burnt of the back of l.. The water.
however, was cold, or nearly so, and drank
pints and splashei myself all over. Nv body
seemed to suck up the fluid as one may see a
brick wall suck up rain after drought; but
whe-eI was burned the touch of it caused in
tense pain. Then bethouEht myself of the
Others, and dragging myself towards them
with difficulty, | sprinkled them with water
and to my JOY they began to recorer-Um M
slopogaas first, then the others. Next they
drank, absorbing water like 80 many sponCes.
Then. feeling chIlly-a queer coatras: 10 our
recent sensations-we began as best We could
to get into our clothes. As We did so Good
pointed 10 the port sid of the canoe: it was
all blistered with heat, and In places actually
charred Had i: been built like our civilized
boats. Good said that the planks would have
certainly warped and let i'll enough water to
sink us; but fortunately it WAS dug out of
the soft, willowy wood of a single great tree,
and had sides nearly three inches and a bot
tom four inches thick What that awful
flame was we never diScov ared; but suppose
that there was at this SPOT crack or hole in
the bed of the river through which q vast
volume of gas forced It's way from its VOL
canic home in the bowels of the earth towards
the upper air How it first became iSnired it
is, of course, impossible TO say-probably,
should think, from some spontaneous expio-
sion of mephitc gases.
As soon as We had got some things on and
shaken ourselves together little We set to
work TO make out where We Were now.
have said that there was light above, and on
examination we found that it came from the
sky. Our river that was, Sir Henry said,
q literal realization Of the wild vision of the
poet, was no longer underground, but was
running on its darksOme way, not now
through ''caverns measureless to man. but
.s:ween tro friShtful cliffs which cannot